Spruance's final decision was to leave two destroyers to escort the USS Essex home, while he withdrew from the battlefield as quickly as possible with the other escort ships. Many people may think that Spruance is running for his life, but in fact, Spruance's move saved the lives of more than a dozen escort warships and thousands of American officers and soldiers on these warships to a greater extent.

In this way, when the United States once again has a new aircraft carrier, it will not be worried about the lack of escort warships, still less about the lack of experienced officers and men.

Before giving this order, Spruance already knew he was losing. Although he had already received the news that the two aircraft carriers of the First Task Force had been severely damaged, when he had a seaplane hovering over the fleet, he realized that the opponent still had a strike force in his hands, although he was not sure whether the Tang Empire would send shore-based bombers or fleet bombers, but the opponent would definitely have the strength to fight back.

At this time, Spruance knew that the aircraft carrier "Essex" could not be saved. It is very difficult for this aircraft carrier to maintain even 8 knots, and it is possible to lose it at any time. And even if you retreat in the direction of Midway at a degree of 8 knots, you will not be able to escape the strike range of the Tang Empire's tactical bombers before dark. The tactical bombers of the Don Empire could be transferred from the Marshall Islands, and if the runway of the airfield on Wake Island was repaired a few hundred meters, and these bombers could be replenished with aviation gasoline, then the "Essex" would definitely be finished. And the 6th team of the Tang Empire can definitely repair the runway of several hundred meters during the day, and since the island can dispatch seaplanes, there will definitely be aviation fuel reserves.

Perhaps, even the "Yorktown" will be finished. Now the "Yorktown" is about 14 knots long, but it is closer to Wake Island, and it will not leave the strike range of the Tang Empire's tactical bombers taking off from Wake Island until about four o'clock in the afternoon, and before that, the Tang Empire has more than six hours to prepare.

Soon, Spruance also considered the question of whether the two aircraft carriers in Task Force 2 were really destroyed. The two aircraft carriers of Task Force 1 were bombed almost simultaneously. Therefore, it is certain that these two aircraft carriers will lose their combat effectiveness, and it is quite possible that one of them will not be able to return to port. But the question is, the two waves of bombers bombing Task Force 2 arrived almost an hour apart, could they be the same aircraft carrier that was bombed?

Thinking of this, Spruance was even more determined to lead most of the warships out of the Tang Empire's bomber strike range, and before that, he also gave an order to the "Yorktown" aircraft carrier formation (which was only 5o nautical miles away from him at this time): if necessary, the aircraft carrier can be abandoned, and the fleet officers and men and escort warships can be saved. It is this command. The four destroyers in the "Yorktown" formation returned home with a group of wounded first, and these four destroyers escaped the tragic end of being bombed and sunk.

Just after twelve o'clock, when the news came that the "Essex" and "Yorktown" had been bombed again, and that all the convoy ships had been sunk, Spruance was in utter despair. At the same time, the officers of the staff of the Fifth Fleet, who followed him to transfer to the cruiser "Indianapolis", were also shocked. A heated argument ensued between the staff officers over whether they should continue the fight or flee the battlefield.

Spruance did not put a stop to the argument among the staff officers. Didn't go to the debate either.

He was not thinking about retreating or continuing the battle at this time. He was thinking about a more practical, crucial question: where did the bombers that bombed the USS Essex and USS Yorktown come from?

The cruisers of the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier group reported in a telegram that they had been heavily bombed by a large bomber group of at least 7o bombers. "Essex"

The telegram sent by the destroyer before it was sunk also claimed. The bombers that bombed them were around 5o. At that time, the distance between the two aircraft carriers was about 8o nautical miles, and the interval between the appearance of these two groups of bombers was about 20 minutes. According to the maximum cruising degree of the bombers of the Tang Empire, this could not be the same batch of bombers, but two bomber groups, two separate bomber groups. In other words, at this time, there were still about 12o Tang Empire bombers on the battlefield on the battlefield, which was definitely a powerful force that could affect the balance of the battlefield. But the question is, where did these bombers come from?

Spruance did not consider that the two groups of bombers were flying from the south, for the simple reason that if they were taking off from Wake Island. Its range is sufficient to ensure a detour to the south of the two aircraft carriers. But the question is, why don't these bombers go straight in, but make a detour? In addition, the airfield on Wake Island has been severely damaged before, even if a runway several hundred meters long can be repaired, but the infrastructure on the airfield has been damaged, can it support 12o bombers at the same time? This is obviously impossible.

Spruance was well acquainted with island airfields, which, in fact, were not as effective at supporting bombers as aircraft carriers. A ground airfield is a flat body. The aircraft carrier is a three-dimensional structure of the airport, although the flight deck area of the aircraft carrier is small, but most of the work can be completed in the hangar, in addition, the support equipment on the aircraft carrier is more professional and more efficient, which improves the efficiency of the flight deck, and also improves the degree of the aircraft carrier to dispatch bombers, and the efficiency of the aircraft carrier to dispatch bombers will not be less than that of ordinary field airports. The airport on the island requires a large area and a large concentration of auxiliary vehicles. To support 12o bombers to make continuous sorties in a short period of time, this is difficult to do even for ordinary field airfields!

What's more, where did the Tang Empire get so many bombers at that time? Although there are at least 2oo of Tang Empire bombers on the nearest Kwajalein Atoll, these bombers can only take off after dawn, that is, after the 6th team of Wake Island determines the time to repair the airfield, flying over a distance of 16oo kilometers, these tactical bombers can only fly at a cruising degree, which takes at least four hours, counting the preparation time, it is normal for those bombers to be transferred within five hours after receiving the news. And these bombers arrived at Wake Island after 12 o'clock, plus refueling, and carrying bombs (bombers cannot carry bombs during the transition flight), and then flew more than 1oo nautical miles, and the last bombing time was about two o'clock in the afternoon, and now it is only twelve o'clock!

Of course, there is also a possibility. The bombers took off from Kwajalein Atoll with bombs and landed on Wake Island after completing their bombing. But the problem is that in this way, these bombers will most likely not even have the fuel to fly to Wake Island, because if the bombs are hung, they cannot be attached to the auxiliary fuel tanks. In addition, the Tang Empire's reconnaissance planes appeared at about 9 o'clock, could it be that the Tang Empire's shore-based bomber unit on the other side of Kwajalein Atoll had predicted in advance the exact sea area where the two aircraft carriers would be located within a few hours?

After some analysis. Spruance ruled out everything that seemed to exist on the surface, and in the end, he could only believe in the most unlikely factor, that is, the Tang Empire also had an aircraft carrier operating in the nearby waters, and those bombers took off from the carrier. But there is another suspicious point in this, that is, even if 12 reconnaissance planes are counted on the aircraft carrier of the Tang Empire, it will carry more than 8o bombers at most, but now there are 12o bombers. How do you explain the number of differences?

There are many explanations for this. First, fighter planes hung bombs to carry out bombing missions, and the captains of the two warships reported regarded these fighters as bombers. There is also the possibility that the aircraft carrier is carrying bombers all over the place. And there are no fighters. In the end, Spruance believed the latter, because he thought of the bombers that bombed the American troops on Wake Island for 6 and the two confusing battle reports of Task Force 2. If that aircraft carrier is another aircraft carrier in the Second Task Force, and the bombers that bombed Wake Island are likely to return to this aircraft carrier between half past eight and half past nine, and after nine o'clock, Tan Renhao has every advantage of believing that the Fifth Fleet is no longer capable of organizing an attack, so this aircraft carrier has every reason not to receive returning fighters, but only bombers, and then use these bombers to organize an attack. And it is entirely possible that an aircraft carrier will continue to dispatch 6o bombers in 12o!

Spruance was sure that if his opponent knew that Task Force 5 was no longer capable of air operations, and that one aircraft carrier could not accept all the fighters sent by the two aircraft carriers, he would definitely not hesitate to order the aircraft carrier to only receive the returning bombers, because in this extreme case, Spruance would also choose to save the bombers and the strike force, because there was no need to defend at all.

Soon. Spruance firmly believed in his own reasoning, and let him make a decisive decision for only one reason, that is, it was impossible for the Tang Empire to have a fifth aircraft carrier operating in this sea area, and when he left Pearl Harbor, Halsey telegraphed back, the fourth task force has two aircraft carriers, and has been operating there, and even if the fourth task force is transferred to the fastest degree, it will not arrive until the twenty-seventh, that is, after tomorrow. And the Tang Empire only has a total of six fleet aircraft carriers, where did they get the seventh aircraft carrier?

While Spruance was calmly thinking and judging the foggy battle situation in front of him, his staff was turned upside down. In fact, Spruance's inferences could have been made by any officer with normal intelligence and common sense of aviation and maritime warfare, except that his staff officers did not spend their energies on thinking, but on two problems that did not need to be thought about at all.

Half of the staff officers believed that the two battleships and all the nearby battleships should be gathered at once, and they should go to Wake Island at night, shell the Wake Island airfield, and support the 6th Squadron to capture the airfield while the Tang Empire did not have aircraft carriers to send them over for the time being, and then arrange for fighters to come over. In this way, even if the Tang Empire's Fourth Task Force arrived a few days later, the U.S. military would still have the ability to capture Wake Island, and even dispatch shore-based bombers to take out the Fourth Task Force.

The other half of the staff officers believed that they should immediately withdraw to Midway, and organize a maritime force to withdraw all the 6 Squadrons that landed on Midway at night, and abandon the plan to land 6 Wake Island, and in order to ensure success, the two battleships and all the nearby battleships should go to cover the retreat of the 6 Squadrons at night. After all, it was not easy to capture the Wake Island airfield, and the Fourth Task Force could bomb the airfield occupied by the US military and seize air supremacy as scripted.

The officers of both factions of opinion had only one thing in common, and that was that the two battleships should be immediately transferred and prepared to shell Wake Island at night.

While Spruance was calming down outside the Commander's Bridge, he returned to the Commander's Bridge, where the staff officer was still arguing. Spruance was also a little impatient, and he coughed dryly twice by the door. At this moment, the cabin fell silent, and all eyes were focused on Spruance.

Spruance was silent for a few seconds, and said very calmly: "Give an order for a full retreat, in addition, let the 6th Fleet of Deng determine if it can pick up the 6th team at night, if not, let the commander of the 6th team on 6th Wake Island decide whether to continue to resist, or choose to surrender after making resistance." All combat ships were to be withdrawn to Midway at night, and there must be no disgust. ”

"General—"

"General—"

The staff officers immediately cried out, and in their opinion, what was the difference between this and running away from the battle?

"Go and carry out the order, we have failed, and with the Tang Empire still having an aircraft carrier to fight, we have no hope of reversing the battle." Spruance glanced at everyone, "I'll take all the consequences and write a battle report to General Nimitz now, I hope you can all stick to your posts and don't make any hasty moves before returning to Pearl Harbor." ”

As Spruance left the Commander's Bridge, there was silence in the cabin for a while, then some people began to sigh, and others secretly regretted it. Spruance's orders were also quickly carried out, and telegrams were sent out one after another.

Spruance himself was in pain, knowing that the decision would save the lives of thousands of U.S. Navy officers and sailors, but at the same time he had to take full responsibility for the defeat of the campaign. When he drafted the telegram to Nimitz, he was slow to press the keys on his typewriter, and this time the failure was too painful.